Device for controlling vehicle at intersection

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a device for controlling a vehicle at an intersection. The device variably sets a region of interest of a vehicle sensor in accordance with a relationship between the progress paths of a subject vehicle and a target vehicle at an intersection, or controls the subject vehicle according to a collision avoidance control method in comparison with a predetermined scenario of a collision possibility of the subject vehicle and the target vehicle at the intersection according to a scenario, thereby preventing a collision at the intersection.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2016-0131523, filed on Oct. 11, 2016, which is hereby incorporated byreference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a device for controlling a vehicle atan intersection (hereinafter, which may also be simply referred to as a“vehicle control device” for the convenience of description). Thepresent disclosure relates to a technique for variably setting aninterest area of a vehicle sensor at an intersection, or determining apossibility of collision between a subject vehicle and an object at anintersection and controlling the vehicle according to a determinationresult.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Recently, vehicles are provided with the functions of autonomouslydetermining the possibility of collision with an object that is notrecognized by a driver, and providing an alarm to the driver dependingon the determination result.

Such a collision alarm device senses the position of the object using aradar sensor, calculates a collision risk depending on the proximitybetween the sensed object and the subject vehicle, and provides an alarmto the driver depending on the collision risk.

However, there is a case in which the possibility of collision betweenan object and a vehicle is very low even though the object is close tothe vehicle. For example, when a vehicle enters an intersection in adirection opposite the running direction of the subject vehicle at theintersection, the possibility of collision is very low, even though thevehicle is approaching the subject vehicle. A conventional collisionalarm device provides an alarm to the driver in such a case as well,which lowers the driver's confidence in the alarm.

On the other hand, there is a case in which the possibility of collisionbetween an object and the subject vehicle is very high, even though theobject is located at a long distance from the subject vehicle. Forexample, when a vehicle enters an intersection in a directionintersecting the running direction of the subject vehicle at theintersection, the possibility of collision between the object and thesubject vehicle is very high, even if the object is located at a longdistance from the vehicle at the present time. However, the conventionalcollision alarm device does not provide an alarm in this case.

Thus, the conventional collision alarm device may provide or may notprovide an alarm even though the collision alarm device does notappropriately determine the possibility of collision between an objectand the subject vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As such, in an aspect, the present disclosure is to provide a techniquefor predicting a progress path of an object in an intersection areathrough a progress path scenario and determining a possibility ofcollision between the object and the vehicle according to the predictedprogress path. In another aspect, the present disclosure is to provide atechnique for performing, when a plurality of objects are sensed,collision avoidance control with respect to an object having a highpossibility of collision.

Further, the present disclosure is to provide a technique for improvingtarget vehicle-sensing performance for sensing a target vehicle in anintersection area by setting an interest region of a vehicle sensor inaccordance with the running path of the subject vehicle and the runningpath of the target vehicle in the intersection area.

In order to achieve the above-described objects, there is provided avehicle control device for use in an intersection area. The vehiclecontrol device includes: a sensing unit configured to sense a positionof an object in an intersection area; a tracker configured to track aprogress path in an intersection area of a plurality of objects based onthe sensed position; a scenario device configured to apply at least oneprogress path scenario among a plurality of progress path scenariospreviously stored for each of the plurality of objects based on aprogress path in the intersection area for the plurality of trackedobjects; and a controller configured to determine a possibility ofcollision between the plurality of objects and a subject vehicle in theintersection area according to the applied progress path scenario, andto display determined information about the possibility of collision orto control the vehicle according to the determined information.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a vehicle controldevice for use in an intersection area. The vehicle control deviceincludes: a vehicle information sensing unit configured to sense vehicleinformation which is at least one of a vehicle speed, a gear position, ayaw rate, a steering angle, and a turn signal lamp; a subject vehiclepath determination unit configured to determine a path of a subjectvehicle in the intersection area based on the vehicle information; atarget vehicle sensing unit configured to sense a target vehicle basedon external information which is at least one of: camera imageinformation acquired from a camera configured to monitor the front side;first radar information acquired from a a front radar configured tomonitor the front side; and second radar information acquired from acorner radar configured to monitor both sides; a target vehicle pathdetermination unit configured to determine the path of the targetvehicle in the intersection area based on the external information; asetter configured to set a region of interest of one of the camera imageinformation, the first radar information, and the second radarinformation based on the path of the subject vehicle and the path of thetarget vehicle in the intersection area; a calculator configured tocalculate a speed of a vehicle of interest that is a target vehiclepositioned in the region of interest based on the external informationand to calculate a Time-To-Collision (TTC) with the vehicle of interest;and a controller configured to control a notification device or acontrol device based on the TTC with the vehicle of interest.

As described above, according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure, it is possible to predict a progress path of an objectthrough a progress path scenario and to determine a possibility ofcollision between the object and the subject vehicle according to thepredicted path, so that the reliability of determination can be enhancedas compared with the conventional technique of determining a possibilityof collision merely based on a proximity degree between the object andthe subject vehicle. In addition, according to the present disclosure,when a plurality of objects are sensed, an object having a highpossibility of collision may be determined, and collision avoidancecontrol may be appropriately performed with respect to the object havinga high possibility of collision.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, it ispossible to improve the performance of sensing target vehicles, and as aresult, to reduce the likelihood of an accident at the intersection byvariably setting a region of interest of a sensing sensor of the subjectvehicle according to the relationship between the progress paths of thesubject vehicle and target vehicles at an intersection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a vehicle controldevice according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a vehicle in which a plurality ofsensors or object sensing devices are arranged in the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating how a sensing unit according to thefirst embodiment senses an object using a radar sensor and a cameradevice;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating sensing regions classified by priorityin the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating velocity components that may be usedfor calculating a TTC in the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a progress path scenario of an objectat an intersection in the first embodiment;

FIGS. 7 to 12 are diagrams each illustrating a progress path scenario inwhich a possibility of collision at an intersection is high in the firstembodiment;

FIGS. 13 to 15 are diagrams each illustrating a progress path scenarioin which a possibility of collision at an intersection is low in thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a progress path scenario in whichpossibilities of collision at an intersection are different from eachother in the first embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle controldevice according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example for describing an operationof a vehicle control device according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example for describing an operationof a target vehicle sensing device according to the second embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIGS. 20 to 22 are diagrams illustrating a first example for describingan operation of a setter according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 23 to 25 are diagrams illustrating a second example for describingan operation of the setter according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 26 to 27 are diagrams illustrating a third example for describingan operation of the setter according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a fourth example for describing anoperation of the setter according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In adding referencenumerals to elements in each drawing, the same elements will bedesignated by the same reference numerals, if possible, although theyare shown in different drawings. Further, in the following descriptionof the present disclosure, a detailed description of known functions andconfigurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it is determinedthat the description may make the subject matter of the presentdisclosure rather unclear.

In addition, terms, such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b) or the likemay be used herein when describing components of the present disclosure.These terms are merely used to distinguish one structural element fromother structural elements, and a property, an order, a sequence and thelike of a corresponding structural element are not limited by the term.It should be noted that if it is described in the specification that onecomponent is “connected,” “coupled” or “joined” to another component, athird component may be “connected,” “coupled,” and “joined” between thefirst and second components, although the first component may bedirectly connected, coupled or joined to the second component.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a vehicle controldevice according to a first embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, a vehicle control device 100 for controlling avehicle in an intersection area (hereinafter, simply referred to as a“vehicle control device”) may include a sensing unit 110, a tracker 120,a scenario device 130, and a controller 140.

The sensing unit 110 may sense the position of an object, and thetracker 120 may track the progress paths of the plurality of objectsbased on the sensed position. The scenario device 130 may apply at leastone progress path scenario among a plurality of progress path scenariospreviously stored for each of the plurality of objects based on thetracked progress path. The controller 140 may determine a possibility ofcollision between the plurality of objects and the subject vehicleaccording to the applied route scenario, display the determinationinformation on the possibility of collision on the display device, orcontrol the subject vehicle according to the determination information.

In more detail, the sensing unit 110 may sense the positions of theobjects. An object may be a vehicle, a pedestrian, or another obstacle.

The sensing unit 110 may include various kinds of sensors or objectsensing devices in order to sense an object. For example, the sensingunit 110 may include various types of sensors or object sensing devicessuch as a radar sensor, a Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) sensor,and a camera device.

In addition, the sensing unit 110 may include a plurality of sensors orobject sensing devices. For example, the sensing unit 110 may include afront radar sensor in the front direction with respect to the radarsensor, corner radar sensors which are respectively installed at bothfront corners of the vehicle in order to sense lateral directions, and arear radar sensor. With respect to the radar sensors, the sensing unit110 may include a radar sensor that senses a short distance to the radarsensor, a radar sensor that senses a medium distance, and a radar sensorthat senses a long distance.

In particular, the sensing unit 110 according to the present embodimentmay have a camera device, a front radar, and a corner radar, and thefront radar may include a Long-Range Radar (LRR) having a narrow-angleand long sensing range, and may include a Short-Range Radar (SRR) havinga wide-angle and short sensing range.

At this time, the corner radar has a sensing angle of about 120 degrees,the short-range radar of the front radar has a sensing angle of about 90degrees, and the camera has a sensing angle of about 50 degrees.

Therefore, as described below, the tracker in the present embodiment mayperform tracking for the objects by sequentially using informationsensed by the corner radar sensor, information sensed by the front radarsensor, and information sensed by the camera device.

FIG. 2 is a vehicle in which a plurality of sensors or object sensingdevices are arranged in the first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, radar sensors may be disposed on the front,side, and rear surfaces of the vehicle, and a stereo camera device maybe disposed in the front direction. The sensing unit 110 described withreference to FIG. 1 may include the radar sensors or the camera device.

The sensors or object sensing devices (e.g., a camera device) includedin the sensing unit 110 may have different object-sensing regionsdepending on the types or arrangements thereof. For example, the radarsensors may have a long sensing area in the longitudinal direction, buta narrow sensing area in the lateral direction. On the other hand, thecamera devices may have a narrow sensing area in the longitudinaldirection and a wide sensing area in the lateral direction.

The sensing unit 110 includes a plurality of sensors or object sensingdevices, and is capable of sensing the objects in a complementary mannerfor the overlapping sensing regions of the sensors or object sensingdevices.

For example, the sensing unit 110 may include a radar sensor and acamera device. For an overlapping sensing region of the radar sensor andthe camera device, the position data sensed by one of the radar sensorand the camera device may be used to correct the position data sensed bythe other one of the radar sensor and the camera device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating how the sensing unit senses an objectusing a radar sensor and a camera device.

Referring to FIG. 3, the sensing unit 110 may sense an object in alongitudinal direction using the radar sensor. In addition, the sensingunit 110 is capable of widely sensing an object in a lateral directionusing the camera device.

Specifically, the sensing unit 110 may sense a plurality of objects 311,312, 321, and 322 in a first sensing region 310, which is long in thelateral direction. In addition, the sensing unit 110 may sense aplurality of objects 321, 322, 331, and 332 in a third sensing region330, which is long in the longitudinal direction.

At this time, the sensing unit 110 may a plurality of objects 321 and322 in the second sensing region 320 overlapping in the first sensingregion 310 and the third sensing region 330 using both the radar sensorand the camera device. In addition, the sensing unit 110 may correct,using the position data of the objects 321 and 322 sensed by one device(e.g., a radar sensor) in the overlapping sensing region 320, theposition data of the objects 321 and 322 sensed by another device (e.g.,the camera device). In general, since the radar sensor is capable ofaccurately sensing the movement in the longitudinal direction and thecamera device is capable of accurately sensing the movement in thelateral direction, the sensing unit 110 may use the position datameasured by the radar sensor for the movement or the position in thelongitudinal direction, and the position data measured by the cameradevice for the movement or position in the lateral direction.

FIG. 3 exemplifies a case in which the sensing unit 110 uses a radarsensor and a camera device in a complementary manner. However, thesensing unit 110 may use the other sensors in a complementary manner.For example, the sensing unit 110 may include a plurality of radarsensors having different sensing regions, and for an overlapping sensingregion of the radar sensors, position data sensed by one radar sensormay be used in order to correct position data sensed by another radarsensor.

The sensing unit 110 may divide the sensing region into a plurality ofregions and may include a plurality of sensors (e.g., radar sensors,camera devices, and the like) that sense the regions, respectively. Forexample, the sensing unit 110 may include a radar sensor that senses aleft region of the vehicle, a radar sensor that senses a right region ofthe vehicle, a radar sensor that senses a remote front region of thevehicle, and a camera device that senses a front region of the vehicle,and the like.

The plurality of sensors sense objects around a specific sensing region,but some regions may overlap each other. For example, the sensing regionof the radar sensor that senses the left area and the sensing region ofthe camera device that senses the front region may overlap.

When using the plurality of sensors, the sensing unit 110 may have awider sensing region compared to a case where the sensing unit 110 usesonly one sensor, and sensing accuracy may also be improved through thecomplement of the sensors in an overlapping region.

The sensing unit 110 may continuously sense the positions of objects andmay continuously generate the position data for each of the objects.Such position data may have both time values and coordinate values.

The tracker 120 may track the progress path for a plurality of objectsusing the position data.

The tracker 120 may receive the position data including the time valuesand the coordinate values from the sensing unit 110, and may track theprogress paths of the objects in the manner of connecting the objectspositioned close to each other in a continuous time.

At this time, since it is necessary for the tracker 120 to sense/tracktarget vehicles from the information of the three sensors (the cornerradar, the front radar, and the camera) in the intersection area, it ispossible to track objects by sequentially using the information sensedby the corner radar sensor having the largest sensing angle, theinformation sensed by the front radar sensor having a middle sensingangle, and the information sensed by the camera device having thesmallest sensing angle.

For example, in order to sense/track an object traversing the front ofthe vehicle in the intersection area, the object is first sensed by theinformation sensed by the corner radar sensor having the largest sensingangle, and then it is possible to track the object by sequentially usingthe information sensed by the front radar sensor having the middlesensing angle and the information sensed by the camera apparatus havingthe smallest sensing angle.

In addition, the tracker 120 may select N objects (N is a natural numberof 2 or more) among the objects sensed by the sensing unit 110, and maytrack progress paths for only the selected N objects (e.g., eightobjects).

The tracker 120 may subdivide a sensing region into a plurality ofregions, may assign priority to each of the regions, and may then selectN objects in order from an object positioned in the highest priorityregion.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a sensing region divided by priority inthe first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the sensing region may be divided into aplurality of regions 352, 354, 356, and 358.

The tracker 120 may select and track a predetermined number (N) ofobjects according to hardware or software constraints. At this time, thetracker 120 may sequentially select N objects in order from an objectpositioned in the highest priority region.

For example, assuming that the tracker 120 tracks six objects, thetracker 120 may select three objects 371, 372, and 373 in the first area352 having the highest priority, may then select two objects 374 and 375in a second area 354 having the next highest priority, and may thenselect the remaining one object 376 in a third area 356 having the nexthighest priority. In addition, the tracker 120 may sense the remainingobjects 377 and 378, but may not track the remaining objects 377 and378.

The tracker 120 may select N objects and may then exclude objects withlow relevance to the subject vehicle (e.g., the objects having a lowpossibility of collision with the subject vehicle), and additionallytrack again as many objects as the number of the excluded objects. Forexample, the tracker 120 may exclude an object moving away from thesubject vehicle or an object having a low possibility of collision fromthe tracking of the progress path, and may additionally track objects asmany as the number of the excluded objects.

In the example of FIG. 4, when the first object 371 is positioned in ahigher priority region than the seventh object 377 but the first object371 is moving away from the subject vehicle, the tracker 120 may excludethe first object 371 from the list of the selected N objects, and mayselect the seventh object 377.

The tracker 120 may calculate a Time-To-Collision (TTC) value for eachof a plurality of objects sensed by the sensing unit 110, and may selectN objects from objects having the lowest TTC value.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating velocity components that may be usedfor calculating a TTC in the first embodiment.

The TTC may be calculated separately in X and Y directions, or may becalculated in only one direction.

Assuming that the progress direction of the subject vehicle EGOV is theX direction and the direction perpendicular to the X direction is the Ydirection, the velocity V of the object may be divided into an Xdirection velocity V_(x) and a Y direction velocity V_(y). Then, the TTCmay be calculated for the velocities V_(x) and V_(y) in each direction.

$\begin{matrix}{{{TTC}_{x} = \frac{{- V_{x}} + \sqrt{V_{x}^{2} - {2 \cdot {ax} \cdot x}}}{ax}}{{TTC}_{y} = \frac{{- V_{y}} + \sqrt{V_{y}^{2} - {2 \cdot {ay} \cdot y}}}{ay}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1}\end{matrix}$

Here, ax denotes acceleration in the X direction of an object, aydenotes acceleration in the Y direction of the object, x denotes an Xdirection coordinate, and y denotes a Y direction coordinate.

The TTC may be calculated in the direction in which the subject vehicleEGOV and the object are connected in a straight line.

$\begin{matrix}{{TTC}_{l} = {\frac{D}{\overset{.}{D}} = \frac{\sqrt{x^{2} + y^{2}}}{V_{l}}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

Here, V₁ denotes the object velocity in the direction in which theobject EGOV and the object are connected in a straight line.

As described above with reference to FIG. 4, the tracker 120 maycalculate a Time-To-Collision (TTC) value for each of a plurality ofobjects sensed by the sensing unit 110, and may select N objects fromobjects having the lowest TTC value.

When progress path tracking data for N objects is generated by thetracker 120, the scenario device 130 applies a progress path scenario toeach object, the path of which is tracked based on the progress pathtracking data.

Further, in addition to the information sensed by the sensing unit, thetracker 120 according to the present embodiment may determine theprogress scenario for each object by further using vehicle information,lane information, etc. provided by a navigation system or a GPS, andcamera information obtained by sensing turn signal lamps of targetvehicles which are the objects.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a progress path scenario of an objectat an intersection.

Referring to FIG. 6, a first object 510 may go straight or turn left.The scenario device 130 may apply a straight-forward path scenario SC1or the left-turn path scenario SC3 to the first object 510, based on theprogress path tracking data generated by the tracker 120.

A second object 520 may turn left or may make a U-turn. The scenariodevice 130 may apply a left-turn path scenario SC3 or a U-turn pathscenario SC4 to the second object 520, based on the progress pathtracking data.

A third object 530 may turn right. The scenario device 130 may apply aright-turn path scenario SC2 to the third object 530, based on theprogress path tracking data.

A fourth object 540 may go straight or turn left. The scenario device130 may apply the straight-forward path scenario SC1 or the left-turnpath scenario SC3 to the fourth object 540, based on the progress pathtrace data.

When the scenario device 130 applies a progress path scenario to anobject, the controller 140 may determine a possibility of collisionbetween the object and the subject vehicle EGOV according to the appliedprogress path scenario, and may display the possibility of collision onthe display device or may provide an alarm to the driver via anaudiovisual device. Alternatively, the controller 140 may control thesubject vehicle EGOV according to the possibility of collision.

An embodiment of determination of the possibility of collision accordingto a progress path scenario will be described in more detail withreference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIGS. 7 to 12 are diagrams each illustrating a progress path scenario inthe case in which the possibility of collision at an intersection ishigh.

Referring to FIG. 7, a vehicle 602 and a vehicle 604 are applied with astraight-forward path scenario. At this time, because the vehicle 602and the vehicle 604 progress in a direction perpendicular to theprogress path of the subject vehicle EGOV, there is a high possibilityof collision with the subject vehicle EGOV.

The controller 140 may predict the progress path of the subject vehicleEGOV and may determine the possibility of collision between the objectsand the subject vehicle EGOV using the progress path of the subjectvehicle and the progress path scenarios that are applied to each of theobjects, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 8, it is predicted that the subject vehicle EGOV willgo straight. At this time, the progress path scenarios applied to thevehicles 606, 608, and 610 are the progress path scenarios in which theprogress paths intersect the progress path of the subject vehicle. Whenthe progress path scenarios applied to the objects are progress pathscenarios in which progress paths intersects with the progress path ofthe subject vehicle EGOV, the controller 140 may determine that thepossibility of collision is higher than that of a progress path scenarioin which the progress path does not intersect the progress path of thesubject vehicle.

Specifically, when a straight-forward path scenario is applied to thevehicle 608, it may be determined that the vehicle 608 has a lowpossibility of collision with the subject vehicle EGOV. However, when aleft-turn path scenario is applied to the vehicle 608 as illustrated inFIG. 6B, it may be determined that the vehicle has a high possibility ofcollision with the subject vehicle EGOV.

When a right-turn path scenario is applied to the vehicle 612 asillustrated in FIG. 9 and the subject vehicle EGOV is predicted to gostraight, it may be determined that the possibility of collision betweenthe vehicle 612 and the subject vehicle EGOV is high.

In FIG. 10, when the subject vehicle EGOV is predicted to turn left andstraight-forward path scenarios are applied to the vehicles 614, 616,and 618, respectively, the possibility of collision between thecorresponding vehicles and the subject vehicle EGOV is high.

Also, in FIG. 11, when the subject vehicle EGOV is predicted to turnright and a right-turn scenario is applied to the vehicle 620, it isdetermined that the possibility of collision between the vehicle 620 andthe subject vehicle EGOV is high.

An object may be a pedestrian. In FIG. 12, when the subject vehicle EGOVis predicted to turn right and a transverse path scenario is applied toa pedestrian 622, it is determined that the possibility of collisionbetween the pedestrian 622 and the subject vehicle EGOV is high.

FIGS. 13 to 15 are diagrams each illustrating a progress path scenarioin the case in which the possibility of collision at an intersection islow.

Referring to FIG. 13, when the subject vehicle EGOV is predicted to turnright and a vehicle 702 is applied with a straight-forward path scenarioat the opposite side, it is determined that the possibility of collisionbetween the vehicle 702 and the subject vehicle EGOV is low. Further,when the vehicle 704 is applied with a straight-forward path scenario ina direction in which the progress path of the vehicle 704 does notintersect the progress path of the subject vehicle EGOV, it isdetermined that the possibility of collision between the vehicle 704 andthe subject vehicle EGOV is low. Further, when a vehicle 706 is appliedwith a left-turn path scenario in a direction in which the progress pathof the vehicle 706 does not intersect the progress path of the subjectvehicle EGOV, it is determined that the possibility of collision betweenthe vehicle 706 and the subject vehicle EGOV is low.

Referring to FIG. 14, when the subject vehicle EGOV is predicted to turnleft, a vehicle 708 is applied with a left-turn path scenario at theopposite side, and a vehicle 710 is applied with a right-turn pathscenario in the direction in which the progress path of the vehicle 710does not intersect the progress path of the subject vehicle EGOV, thusit is determined that the possibility of collision between the vehicles708 and 710 and the subject vehicle EGOV is low.

Referring to FIG. 15, when the subject vehicle EGOV is predicted to turnright and a vehicle 712 is applied with a straight-forward path scenarioat the opposite side, it is determined that the possibility of collisionbetween the vehicle 712 and the subject vehicle EGOV is low.

In the examples described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 15, thecontroller 140 may predict the progress path of the subject vehiclethrough the travel information of the subject vehicle EGOV such asprevious progress path data and the direction indicating operation stateof the subject vehicle EGOV.

The controller 140 may determine scenarios for the progress path of theobjects at an intersection, may determine the possibility of collisionbetween the subject vehicle and each of the objects according to thedetermined scenario, may calculate a TTC for at least one of the objectswhich is determined to have a relatively high possibility of collision,and may control the subject vehicle based on the calculated TTC. At thistime, the controller 140 may control the steering device or the brakingdevice of the subject vehicle.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a progress path scenario in whichpossibilities of collision at an intersection are different from eachother.

Referring to FIG. 16, it is assumed that the EGOV is predicted to gostraight, a vehicle 802 is applied with a the straight-forward pathscenario at the opposite side, and a vehicle 804 is applied with astraight-forward route scenario in a direction in which the progresspath of the vehicle 804 intersects the progress path of the subjectvehicle EGOV.

At this time, considering the progress direction of the subject vehicleEGOV, the possibility of collision of the vehicle 802 is determined tobe low, and the possibility of collision of the vehicle 804 isdetermined to be high. At this time, the controller 140 may control thesubject vehicle on the basis of the vehicle 804 having a relatively highpossibility of collision.

As a specific example, the controller 140 may calculate the TTC for eachof the vehicle 802 and the vehicle 804. At this time, the controller 140may confirm that the possibility of collision of the vehicle 804 ishigher than the possibility of collision of the vehicle 802, and maydisplay the calculated TTC for the vehicle 804 to the driver, or maycontrol the subject vehicle EGOV according to the TTC calculated for thevehicle 804.

The tracker 120, the scenario device 130, the controller 140, and thelike that are used in the vehicle control device 100 according to thefirst embodiment may be implemented as a part of an integrated controldevice or an ECU installed in the vehicle.

The integrated control device or ECU of such a vehicle may include astorage device, such as a processor and a memory, a computer programcapable of performing a specific function, and the like. The tracker120, the scenario device 130, the controller 140, etc. may beimplemented as software modules capable of performing respectiveintrinsic functions.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure, it is possible to define respective scenarios correspondingto various combinations of progress paths of the subject vehicle andobjects (target vehicles) in an intersection area, and to save inadvance plural pieces of progress scenario information in which thepossibilities of collision are differently set for respective scenarios.

Then, when the subject vehicle actually enters an intersection area, itis possible to determine the scenarios to be applied after tracking thebehavior of the subject vehicle and the progress paths of objects(target vehicles), and to perform the control of the subject vehicle bycomprehensively taking the possibilities of collision set in thescenarios and TTCs to the objects into consideration.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle controldevice according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 17, a vehicle control device 1000 according to asecond embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a vehicleinformation sensing unit 1100 configured to sense vehicle informationthat is at least one of a vehicle speed, a gear position, a yaw rate, asteering angle, and a turn signal lamp; a subject vehiclepath-determining unit 1200 configure to determine a path of the subjectvehicle based on the vehicle information; a target vehicle sensing unit1300 configured to sense a target vehicle based on external informationwhich is at least one of camera image information acquired from a cameraconfigured to monitor a front side, first radar information acquiredfrom a front radar configured to monitor the front side, and secondradar information acquired from corner radars configured to respectivelymonitor both lateral sides; a target vehicle path determination unit1400 configured to determine a path of the target vehicle based on theexternal information; a setter 1500 configured to set a region ofinterest based on the path of the subject vehicle and the path of thetarget vehicle; a calculator 1600 configured to calculate a speed of avehicle of interest which is the target vehicle positioned in the regionof interest based on the external information, and to calculate aTime-To-Collision (TTC) value; and a controller 1700 configured tocontrol a notification device or a control device based on the TTC withthe vehicle of interest.

The vehicle information sensing unit 1100 may sense vehicle informationthat is at least one of: a vehicle speed sensed using a vehicle speedsensor included in the vehicle; a gear position sensed using a gearposition sensor; a yaw rate sensed using a yaw rate sensor; and asteering angle sensed using a steering angle sensor and a turn signallamp using a turn signal lamp sensor.

As described above, the vehicle information sensing unit 1100 may sensethe vehicle information using the sensor that senses the vehicle speed,the gear position, the yaw rate, the steering angle, and the turn signallamp, respectively, but is not limited thereto. That is, the vehicleinformation sensing unit 110 may sense other vehicle information usingsensors configured to sense factors other than the vehicle speed, thegear position, the yaw rate, the steering angle, and the turn signallamp, and may sense a vehicle speed, a gear position, a yaw rate, asteering angle, and a turn signal lamp based on a mathematicalrelationship or a mechanical relationship of other sensed vehicleinformation.

The vehicle path determining unit 1200 may determine the path of thesubject vehicle based on the vehicle information sensed by the vehicleinformation sensing unit 110.

For example, when the vehicle information of the yaw rate, the steeringangle, and the turn signal lamp corresponds to the left turn, thesubject vehicle path determination unit 1200 may determine the path ofthe subject vehicle as a left turn.

Further, when the vehicle information of the vehicle speed and gearposition corresponds to the progress and the vehicle information of theyaw rate, the steering angle, and the turn signal lamp corresponds tothe left turn, the subject vehicle path determination unit 1200 maydetermine the path of the subject vehicle as progress and left turn.

As one example, the subject vehicle path determination unit 1200 maydetermine the path of the subject vehicle using one or more pieces ofvehicle information of the vehicle speed, the gear position, the yawrate, the steering angle, and the turn signal lamp, rather than all thevehicle information.

The other vehicle sensing unit 1300 may sense a target vehicle based onexternal information which is at least one of: camera image informationacquired from a camera configured to monitor the front side; first radarinformation acquired from a front radar configured to monitor the frontside; and a second radar information acquired from corner radarsinstalled on both sides of the vehicle, respectively, so as to monitorthe both sides.

With respect to the camera and radars operating as described above, thecamera may be installed to face the front side of the vehicle in orderto acquire the camera image information, and the first radar may beinstalled to face the front side of the vehicle in order to acquire thefirst radar information, and the second radar information may beobtained by installing the corner radars to the both sides of thevehicle. The camera may include a stereo camera.

The other vehicle sensing unit 1300 may sense a target vehicle based onexternal information that is at least one of the camera imageinformation, the first radar information, and the second radarinformation obtained as described above.

The target vehicle path determination unit 1400 may determine a targetvehicle path that is a traveling path of the target vehicle sensed bythe target vehicle sensing unit 130.

For example, the target vehicle sensing unit 1300 may sense targetvehicles at predetermined time intervals. The target vehicle pathdetermination unit 1400 may determine the paths of the target vehiclesas a left turn, straight forward, or a right turn, based on thepositions of the target vehicles sensed at the predetermined timeintervals.

The setter 150 may set a region of interest based on the path of thesubject vehicle determined by the subject vehicle path determinationunit 1200 and the path of a target vehicle determined by the targetvehicle path determination unit 1400.

As a first example, when the subject vehicle path determination unit1200 determines the path of the subject vehicle as a left turn and thetarget vehicle path determination unit 1400 determines the path of afirst target vehicle approaching from the left side as a left turn orstraight forward, the setter 1500 may set the left side as a region ofinterest.

As a second example, when the subject vehicle path determination unit1200 determines the path of the subject vehicle as a left turn and thetarget vehicle path determination unit 1400 determines the path of asecond target vehicle approaching from the front side as a left turn,straight forward, or a right turn, the setter 1500 may set the frontside as a region of interest.

That is, when the subject vehicle path determination unit 1200determines the path of the subject vehicle as a left turn and the targetvehicle sensing unit 1300 senses the second target vehicle approachingfrom the front side, the setter 150 may set the front side the region ofinterest regardless of the path of the second target vehicle.

Accordingly, when the subject vehicle path determination unit 1200determines the path of the subject vehicle as a left turn and the targetvehicle sensing unit 1300 senses the second vehicle approaching from thefront side, the target vehicle path determination unit 1400 may notdetermine the path of the second target vehicle.

As a third example, when the subject vehicle path determination unit1200 determines the path of the subject vehicle as a left turn and thetarget vehicle path determination unit 1400 determines the path of athird target vehicle approaching from the right side as a left turn orstraight forward, the setter 1500 may set the right side as a region ofinterest.

As a fourth example, when the subject vehicle path determination unit1200 determines the path of the subject vehicle as straight forward andthe target vehicle path determination unit 1400 determines the path of afirst target vehicle approaching from the left side as a left turn orstraight forward, the setter 1500 may set the left side as a region ofinterest.

As a fifth example, when the subject vehicle path determination unit1200 determines the path of the subject vehicle as straight forward andthe target vehicle path determination unit 1400 determines the path of asecond target vehicle approaching from the front side as a left turn,the setter 1500 may set the front side as a region of interest.

As a sixth example, when the subject vehicle path determination unit1200 determines the path of the subject vehicle as straight forward andthe target vehicle path determination unit 140 determines the path of athird target vehicle approaching from the right side as a left turn,straight forward, or a right turn, the setter 1500 may set the rightside as a region of interest.

That is, when the subject vehicle path determination unit 1200determines the path of the subject vehicle as straight forward and thetarget vehicle sensing unit 1300 senses the third target vehicleapproaching from the right side, the setter 1500 may set the right sidethe region of interest regardless of the path of the third targetvehicle.

Accordingly, when the subject vehicle path determination unit 1200determines the path of the subject vehicle as straight forward and thetarget vehicle sensing unit 1300 senses the third vehicle approachingfrom the right side, the target vehicle path determination unit 1400 maynot determine the path of the third target vehicle.

As a seventh example, when the subject vehicle path determination unit1200 determines the path of the subject vehicle as a right turn and thetarget vehicle path determination unit 1400 determines the path of afirst target vehicle approaching from the left side as straight forward,the setter 1500 may set the left side as a region of interest.

As an eighth example, when the subject vehicle path determination unit1200 determines the path of the subject vehicle as a right turn and thetarget vehicle path determination unit 1400 determines the path of asecond target vehicle approaching from the front side as a left turn,the setter 1500 may set the front side as a region of interest.

The calculator 1600 may calculate a speed of a vehicle of interest whichis a target vehicle positioned within the region of interest set by thesetter 1500 based on external information that is at least one of thecamera image information acquired from the camera configured to monitorthe front side, the first radar information acquired from a radarconfigured to monitor the front side, and the second radar informationacquired from a radar configured to monitor the both sides, and maycalculate the TTC to the vehicle of interest using the calculated speedof the vehicle of interest.

For example, the vehicle sensing unit 130 may sense target vehicles atpredetermined time intervals. The calculator 1600 may calculate thespeed of the vehicle of interest, which is the target vehicle positionedwithin the region of interest set by the setter 1500 among the targetvehicles, using the moving distance of the vehicle of interest accordingto a positional change of the vehicle of interest, and the predeterminedtime. Thereafter, the calculator 1600 may calculate a TTC with thevehicle of interest using the calculated speed of the vehicle ofinterest and the distance between the subject vehicle and the vehicle ofinterest.

The controller 1700 may control the notification device or the controldevice based on the TTC with the vehicle of interest, which iscalculated by the calculator 1600.

As an example, when the TTC with the vehicle of interest is smaller thana preset first time, the controller 1700 may control the notificationdevice so as to provide a notification to the occupants including thedriver.

As another example, when the TTC with the vehicle of interest is smallerthan a preset second time, the controller 1700 may control thenotification device and the control device to provide a notification tothe occupants including the driver, and may decelerate the speed of thesubject vehicle.

In the above-described example, the first time may be longer than thesecond time.

A vehicle control device 1000 according to a second embodiment of thepresent disclosure, which operates as described above, may prevent therisk of collision by controlling the notification device or the controldevice based on the relationship with the vehicle of interest which isat risk of collision with the subject vehicle among the target vehiclesbased on the path of the subject vehicle and the paths of the targetvehicles.

This may solve the problem that the notification device or the controldevice operates even though there is no risk of collision according tothe path of the target vehicle in the existing intersection collisionavoidance system that controls the subject vehicle based on the TTC withthe target vehicle irrespective of the path of the subject vehicle andthe path of the target vehicle.

Hereinafter, a vehicle control device operating as described above willbe described in detail with reference to FIGS. 18 to 21.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating one example for describing anoperation of a vehicle control device according to the second embodimentof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 18, the vehicle information sensing unit 2 of thevehicle control device according to the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure may sense vehicle information that is at least one of: avehicle speed sensed using a vehicle speed sensor included in thevehicle; a gear position sensed using a gear position sensor; a yaw ratesensed using a yaw rate sensor; and a steering angle sensed using asteering angle sensor (S200).

As described above, the vehicle information sensing unit may sense thevehicle information using the sensor that senses the vehicle speed, thegear position, the yaw rate, the steering angle, and the turn signallamp, respectively, but is not limited thereto. That is, the vehicleinformation sensing unit may sense, using sensors configured to sensefactors other than the vehicle speed, the gear position, the yaw rate,the steering angle, and the turn signal lamp, and may sense a gearposition, a yaw rate, a steering angle, and a turn signal lamp based ona mathematical relationship or a mechanical relationship of other sensedvehicle information.

Then, the subject vehicle path determination unit determines the path ofthe subject vehicle based on the vehicle information sensed in stepS2000 (S2100).

For example, when the vehicle information of the yaw rate, the steeringangle, and the turn signal lamp corresponds to the left turn, thesubject vehicle path determination unit 1200 may determine the path ofthe subject vehicle as a left turn.

Further, when the vehicle information of the vehicle speed and gearposition corresponds to the progress and the vehicle information of theyaw rate, the steering angle, and the turn signal lamp corresponds tothe left turn, the subject vehicle path determination unit may determinethe path of the subject vehicle as progress and a left turn.

As one example, the subject vehicle path determination unit maydetermine the path of the subject vehicle using one or more pieces ofvehicle information of the vehicle speed, the gear position, the yawrate, the steering angle, and the turn signal lamp, rather than all thevehicle information.

Thereafter, the target vehicle sensing unit senses a target vehiclebased on external information which is at least one of: camera imageinformation acquired from a camera configured to monitor the front side;first radar information acquired from a radar configured to monitor thefront side; and second radar information acquired from a radarconfigured to monitor the both sides (S2200).

This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 19.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example for describing an operationof a target vehicle sensing device according to the second embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 19, the target vehicle sensing unit may sense targetvehicles positioned in a first region 3200, a second region 3300, and athird region 3400 based on external information that is at least one of:camera image information acquired from a camera installed in the vehicle3100 and configured to monitor the first region 3200; first radarinformation acquired from a radar installed in the vehicle 3100 andconfigured to monitor the second region 3300; and second radarinformation acquired from a radar installed in the subject vehicle 3100and configured to monitor the third region 34000. The camera configuredto monitor the first region 3200 may be a stereo camera, the radarconfigured to monitor the second region 3300 may be a Long-Range Radar(LRR), and the radar configured to monitor the third region 3400 may bea corner radar.

In addition, for a region in which at least two of the first region3200, the third region 3300, and the third region 3400 overlap, thetarget vehicle sensing unit may sense and track the target vehicles byapplying a sensor fusion.

When a target vehicle is sensed, the target vehicle path determinationunit determines the path of the target vehicle sensed in step S2200based on the external information that is at least one of the cameraimage information, the first radar information, and the second radarinformation (S2300).

For example, in step S2200, the target vehicle sensing unit may sensetarget vehicles at predetermined time intervals. The target vehicle pathdetermination unit may determine the paths of the target vehicles as aleft turn, straight forward, or a right turn, based on the positions ofthe target vehicles sensed at the predetermined time intervals. Thetarget vehicle sensing unit may perform an experiment for sensing eachof a target vehicle that turns left, a target vehicle that goes straightforward, and a target vehicle that turns right, thereby acquiring inadvance data for the positions of respective target vehicles, and thetarget vehicle path determination unit may determine the paths of thetarget vehicles based on the data.

In addition, the target vehicle sensing unit may track the objects bysequentially using second radar information sensed by the corner radar,first radar information sensed by the front radar, and camera imageinformation sensed by the camera.

Then, the setter sets a region of interest based on the path of thesubject vehicle, which is determined in step S2100 and the path of atarget vehicle, which is determined in step S2300 (S2400).

Specifically, when the path of the subject vehicle in the intersectionarea is one of the straight forward, left turn, and right turn, thesetter may set the region of interest depending on which one of straightforward, left turn, and right turn, the path of the target vehicle inthe intersection area corresponds to, which will be described in moredetail below with reference to FIGS. 20 to 22.

A detailed configuration for this will be described in detail withreference to FIGS. 20 to 27.

FIGS. 20 to 22 are diagrams illustrating a first example for describingthe operation of a setter of the vehicle controller according to thesecond embodiment of the present disclosure, FIGS. 23 to 25 are diagramsillustrating a second example for describing the operation of a setterof the vehicle control device according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure, and FIGS. 26 to 27 are diagrams illustrating a thirdexample for describing the operation of the setter according to thesecond embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 20 illustrates a situation that may occur when the vehicle 4100turns left (4110), FIG. 21 illustrates a situation that may occur whenthe subject vehicle 4100 goes straight forward (4130), and FIG. 22illustrates a situation that may occur when the subject vehicle 4100turns right (4160).

Referring to FIG. 20, the subject vehicle 4100 that turns left (4110)may collide with a first target vehicle 4600 a that turns left (4160 a)or goes straight forward (4630 a) while approaching from the left side.

In this situation, the vehicle information sensing unit may sense thevehicle speed or the gear position corresponding to progressing, and maysense the yaw rate, the steering angle, or the turn signal lampcorresponding to left turn. Thus, the subject vehicle path determinationunit may determine the path of the subject vehicle 4100 as a left turn(4110).

In addition, the target vehicle sensing unit may sense the position ofthe first target vehicle 4600 a based on the second radar informationacquired from radars configured to monitor both sides at predeterminedtime intervals, and based on the sensed position of the first targetvehicle 4600 a, the target vehicle path determination unit may determinethe path of the first target vehicle 4600 a as a left turn (4610 a) orstraight forward (4630 a).

Accordingly, the setter may set the left side as a region of interest(4800 a).

Referring to FIG. 21, the subject vehicle 4100 that turns left (4110)may collide with a second target vehicle 4600 b that turns left (4610b), goes straight forward (4630 b), or turns right 4660 b whileapproaching from the front side.

In this situation, the vehicle information sensing unit may sense thevehicle speed or the gear position corresponding to progressing, and maysense the yaw rate, the steering angle, or the turn signal lampcorresponding to left turn. Thus, the subject vehicle path determinationunit may determine the path of the subject vehicle 4100 as a left turn(4110).

In addition, the target vehicle sensing unit may sense the position ofthe second target vehicle 4600 b based on the camera image informationacquired from a camera configured to monitor the front side and thefirst radar information acquired from a radar at predetermined timeintervals, and based on the position of the sensed second target vehicle4600 b, the target vehicle path determination unit may determine thepath of the second target vehicle 4600 b as a left turn (4610 b),straight forward (4630 b), or a right turn (4660 b). Here, the targetvehicle sensing unit may sense the position of the second vehicle 4600 bby the fusion of the camera image information and the first radarinformation.

Accordingly, the setter may set the front side as a region of interest(4800 b).

Referring to FIG. 22, the subject vehicle 4100 that turns left (4110)may collide with a third target vehicle 4600 c that turns left (4610 c)or goes straight forward (4630 c) while approaching from the right side.

In this situation, the vehicle information sensing unit may sense thevehicle speed or the gear position corresponding to progressing, and maysense the yaw rate, the steering angle, or the turn signal lampcorresponding to left turn. Thus, the subject vehicle path determinationunit may determine the path of the subject vehicle 4100 as a left turn(4110).

In addition, the target vehicle sensing unit may sense the position ofthe third target vehicle 4600 c based on the second radar informationacquired from radars configured to monitor both sides at predeterminedtime intervals, and based on the position of the third target vehicle4600 c, the target vehicle path determination unit may determine thepath of the third target vehicle 4600 c as a left turn (4610 c) orstraight forward (4630 c).

Accordingly, the setter may set the right side as a region of interest(4800 c).

Referring to FIG. 23, the subject vehicle 4100 that goes straightforward (4130) may collide with a first target vehicle 4600 a that turnsleft (4610 a) or goes straight forward (4630 a) while approaching fromthe left side.

In this situation, the vehicle information sensing unit may sense thevehicle speed or the gear position corresponding to progressing, and maysense the yaw rate, the steering angle, or the turn signal lampcorresponding to straight forward. Thus, the subject vehicle pathdetermination unit may determine the path of the subject vehicle 4100 asstraight forward (4130).

In addition, the target vehicle sensing unit may sense the position ofthe first target vehicle 4600 a based on the second radar informationacquired from radars configured to monitor both sides at predeterminedtime intervals, and based on the sensed position of the first targetvehicle 4600 a, the target vehicle path determination unit may determinethe path of the first target vehicle 4600 a as a left turn (4610 a) orstraight forward (4630 a).

Accordingly, the setter may set the left side as a region of interest(4800 a).

Referring to FIG. 24, the subject vehicle 4100 that goes straightforward (4130) may collide with a second target vehicle 4600 b thatturns left (4610 a) while approaching from the front side.

In this situation, the vehicle information sensing unit may sense thevehicle speed or the gear position corresponding to progressing, and maysense the yaw rate, the steering angle, or the turn signal lampcorresponding to straight forward. Thus, the subject vehicle pathdetermination unit may determine the path of the subject vehicle 4100 asstraight forward (4130).

In addition, the target vehicle sensing unit may sense the position ofthe second target vehicle 4600 b based on the camera image informationacquired from a camera configured to monitor the front side and thefirst radar information acquired from a radar at predetermined timeintervals, and based on the position of the second target vehicle 4600b, the target vehicle path determination unit may determine the path ofthe second target vehicle 4600 b as a left turn (4610 b). Here, thetarget vehicle sensing unit may sense the position of the second vehicle4600 b by the fusion of the camera image information and the first radarinformation.

Accordingly, the setter may set the front side as a region of interest(4800 b).

Referring to FIG. 25, the subject vehicle 4100 that goes straightforward (4130) may collide with a third target vehicle 4600 c that turnsleft (4610 c), goes straight forward (4630 c), or turns right (4660 c)while approaching from the front side.

In this situation, the vehicle information sensing unit may sense thevehicle speed or the gear position corresponding to progressing, and maysense the yaw rate, the steering angle, or the turn signal lampcorresponding to straight forward. Thus, the subject vehicle pathdetermination unit may determine the path of the subject vehicle 4100 asstraight forward (4130).

In addition, the target vehicle sensing unit may sense the position ofthe third target vehicle 4600 c based on the second radar informationacquired from radars configured to monitor both lateral sides atpredetermined time intervals, and based on the sensed position of thethird target vehicle 4600 c, the target vehicle path determination unitmay determine the path of the third target vehicle 4600 c as a left turn(4610 c), straight forward (4630 c), or right turn (4660 c).

Accordingly, the setter may set the right side as a region of interest(4800 c).

Referring to FIG. 26, the subject vehicle 4100 that turns right (4160)may collide with a first target vehicle 4600 a that goes straightforward (4630 a) while approaching from the left side.

In this situation, the vehicle information sensing unit may sense thevehicle speed or the gear position corresponding to progressing, and maysense the yaw rate, the steering angle, or the turn signal lampcorresponding to right turn. Thus, the subject vehicle pathdetermination unit may determine the path of the subject vehicle 4100 asa right turn (4160).

In addition, the target vehicle sensing unit may sense the position ofthe first target vehicle 4600 a based on the second radar informationacquired from radars configured to monitor both sides at predeterminedtime intervals, and based on the sensed position of the first targetvehicle 4600 a, the target vehicle path determination unit may determinethe path of the first target vehicle 4600 a as straight forward (4630a).

Accordingly, the setter may set the left side as a region of interest(4800 a).

Referring to FIG. 27, the subject vehicle 4100 that turns right (4160)may collide with a second target vehicle 4600 a that turns left (4610 a)while approaching from the front side.

In this situation, the vehicle information sensing unit may sense thevehicle speed or the gear position corresponding to progressing, and maysense the yaw rate, the steering angle, or the turn signal lampcorresponding to a right turn. Thus, the subject vehicle pathdetermination unit may determine the path of the subject vehicle 4100 asa right turn (4160).

In addition, the target vehicle sensing unit may sense the position ofthe second target vehicle 4600 b based on the camera image informationacquired from a camera configured to monitor the front side and thefirst radar information at predetermined time intervals, and based onthe position of the second target vehicle 4600 b, the target vehiclepath determination unit may determine the path of the second targetvehicle 4600 b as a left turn (4610 b). Here, the target vehicle sensingunit may sense the position of the second vehicle 4600 b by the fusionof the camera image information and the first radar information.

Accordingly, the setter may set the front side as a region of interest(4800 b).

Each of FIGS. 20 to 27 illustrates a situation in which one targetvehicle exists for the convenience of understanding. However, withoutbeing limited thereto, two or more target vehicles may exist. That is,when at least two target vehicles exist in FIGS. 20 to 22, when at leasttwo target vehicles exist in FIGS. 23 to 25, and when a target vehicleexists in FIGS. 26 and 27, a region in which the corresponding vehiclesare positioned may be set as a region of interest. The setter operatingas described above with reference to FIGS. 20 to 27 may operate asdescribed below with reference to FIG. 28.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a fourth example for describing anoperation of the setter according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 28, the setter determines whether the path of thesubject vehicle and the path of a target vehicle conflict (S2410). Thismay be determined based on the path of the subject vehicle determined bythe subject vehicle path determination unit and the path of the targetvehicle determined by the target vehicle path determination unit.

When it is determined in step S2410 that the path of the subject vehicleand the path of the target vehicle conflict (YES), the setter determineswhether the target vehicle is approaching from the left side (S2420).This may be determined based on the position of the target vehiclesensed by the target vehicle sensing unit.

When it is determined in step S2420 that the target vehicle isapproaching from the left side (YES), the setter may set the left sideas a region of interest (S2430).

Alternatively, when it is determined in step S2420 that the targetvehicle is not approaching from the left side (NO), or when step S2430is performed, the setter determines whether the target vehicleapproaches from the front side (S2440). This may be determined based onthe position of the target vehicle sensed by the target vehicle sensingunit.

When it is determined in step S2440 that the target vehicle isapproaching from the front side (YES), the setter may set the front sideas a region of interest (S2450).

Alternatively, when it is determined in step S2440 that the targetvehicle is not approaching from the front side (NO), or when step S2450is performed, the setter determines whether the target vehicleapproaches from the right side (S2460). This may be determined based onthe position of the target vehicle sensed by the target vehicle sensingunit.

When it is determined in step S2460 that the target vehicle isapproaching from the right side (YES), the setter may set the right sideas a region of interest.

When the region of interest is set as described with reference to FIGS.20 to 27, the calculator calculates the speed of a vehicle of interestwhich is the target vehicle positioned within the region of interest setin step S2400, and calculates a TTC with the vehicle of interest usingthe calculated speed of the vehicle of interest (S2500).

For example, in step S2200, it is possible to sense the target vehicleat a predetermined time interval. The calculator 1600 may calculate thespeed of the vehicle of interest, which is the target vehicle positionedwithin the region of interest set in step S2400, using the movingdistance of the vehicle of interest according to a positional change ofthe vehicle of interest, and the predetermined time.

For example, the calculator may divide the calculated speed of thevehicle of interest into those for two axes (which are composed of afirst axis and a second axis, and the first axis is the same as thespeed axis of the subject vehicle), and the TTC may be calculated usingan equivalent velocity formula (Equation 3 below) for each of the firstaxis and the second axis.

v=v ₀ +a*t

s=v ₀+(1/2)*a*t ²

v ₁ ² −v ₀ ²=−2*a*s   Equation 3

V denotes speed, v₀ denotes initial speed, a denotes acceleration, tdenotes time, and s denotes a moving distance.

In another example, the calculator may calculate a TTC using the pointthat the calculated speed of the vehicle of interest and the distance tothe second axis has a right-angled triangle relationship.

The above example is a method of calculating a TTC in a vehicle ofinterest moving at a constant acceleration, and the other example is amethod of calculating a TTC in a vehicle of interest moving at aconstant speed. This is a known method in dynamics, and the detaileddescription is omitted because the detailed description of the methodmay make the point in describing the operation of the present disclosureunclear.

On the other hand, when two or more regions of interest are set in stepS2400, the calculator may calculate a TTC with two or more vehicles ofinterest corresponding to two or more regions of interest.

When the calculator calculates the speed of the vehicle of interest andthe TTC with the vehicle of interest as described above, and thecontroller controls the notification device to provide a notificationwhen the TTC with the vehicle of interest calculated in step S2500 issmaller than a preset first time, the controller may control the braketo decelerate when the TTC is smaller than a second time (S2600).

The first time and the second time may be expressed by the followingEquation 4.

First Time [s]>Second Time [s]  Equation 4

On the other hand, when two or more regions of interest are set in stepS2400 and a TTC with two or more vehicles of interest corresponding tothe two or more regions of interest set in step S2500 is calculated, thecontroller controls the notification device to provide a notificationwhen the minimum time among two or more TTCs calculated in step S2500 issmaller than the preset first time, and the controller may control thecontrol device to decelerate when the minimum time is smaller than thesecond time (S2600).

According to the vehicle control device according to the secondembodiment of the present disclosure that operates as illustrated inFIG. 28, it is possible to prevent the risk of collision by controllingthe notification device or the control device based on a relationshipbetween the subject vehicle and a vehicle of interest that is at risk ofcollision with the subject vehicle among the target vehicles based onthe path of the subject vehicle and the paths of target vehicles.

This may solve the problem that the notification device or the controldevice operates even though there is no risk of collision according tothe path of the target vehicle in the existing intersection collisionavoidance system that controls the subject vehicle based on the TTC withthe target vehicle irrespective of the path of the subject vehicle andthe path of the target vehicle.

Meanwhile, the vehicle information sensing unit used in the vehiclecontrol device 1000 according to the second embodiment as describedabove may include sensors or vehicle components such as a vehicle speedsensor, a gear position sensor, a yaw rate sensor, a steering anglesensor, and a turn signal lamp.

In addition, the target vehicle sensing unit 1300 may include a camera,at least one radar sensor, and the like as described above.

In addition, the subject vehicle path determination unit 1200, thetarget vehicle path determination unit 1400, the setter 1500, thecalculator 1600, and the controller 1700 may be implemented as somemodules of an integrated control device or an ECU installed in thevehicle.

The integrated control device or ECU of such a vehicle may include astorage device, such as a processor and a memory, a computer programcapable of performing a specific function, and the like. The targetvehicle path determination unit 1400, the setter 1500, the calculator1600, the controller 1700, and the like may be implemented as softwaremodules capable of performing respective intrinsic functions thereof.

As described above, according to the present disclosure, it is possibleto predict a progress path of an object through a progress path scenarioand to determine a possibility of collision between the object and thesubject vehicle according to the predicted path, so that the reliabilityof determination can be enhanced as compared with the conventionaltechnique of determining a possibility of collision merely based on aproximity degree between the object and the subject vehicle. Inaddition, according to the present disclosure, when a plurality ofobjects are sensed, an object having a high possibility of collision maybe determined, and collision avoidance control may be appropriatelyperformed with respect to the object having a high possibility ofcollision.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, it ispossible to improve performance of sensing target vehicles, and as aresult, to reduce the likelihood of an accident at the intersection byvariably setting a region of interest of a sensing sensor of the subjectvehicle according to the relationship between the progress paths of thesubject vehicle and target vehicles at an intersection.

In addition, since terms, such as “including,” “comprising,” and“having” mean that one or more corresponding components may exist unlessthey are specifically described to the contrary, it shall be construedthat one or more other components can be included. All the terms thatare technical, scientific or otherwise agree with the meanings asunderstood by a person skilled in the art unless defined to thecontrary. Common terms as found in dictionaries should be interpreted inthe context of the related technical writings not too ideally orimpractically unless the present disclosure expressly defines them so.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure has beendescribed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosureas disclosed in the accompanying claims. Therefore, the embodimentsdisclosed in the present disclosure are intended to illustrate the scopeof the technical idea of the present disclosure, and the scope of thepresent disclosure is not limited by the embodiment. The scope of thepresent disclosure shall be construed on the basis of the accompanyingclaims in such a manner that all of the technical ideas included withinthe scope equivalent to the claims belong to the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for controlling a vehicle in anintersection area, the device comprising: a sensing unit configured tosense a position of an object in an intersection area; a trackerconfigured to track a progress path in an intersection area of aplurality of objects based on the sensed position; a scenario deviceconfigured to apply at least one progress path scenario among aplurality of progress path scenarios previously stored for each of theplurality of objects based on a progress path in the intersection areafor the plurality of tracked objects; and a controller configured todetermine a possibility of collision between the plurality of objectsand a subject vehicle in the intersection area according to the appliedprogress path scenario, and to display determined information about thepossibility of collision or to control the vehicle according to thedetermined information.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the sensingunit includes a front radar sensor, a corner radar sensor, and a cameradevice, and the tracker is configured to track the objects bysequentially using information sensed by the corner radar sensor,information sensed by the front radar sensor, and information sensed bythe camera device.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein the tracker isconfigured to select N objects (N is a natural number of 2 or more)among the objects sensed by the sensing unit, and to track progresspaths for only the selected N objects.
 4. The device of claim 3, whereinthe tracker is configured to exclude objects moving away from thesubject vehicle or objects having a low possibility of collision fromthe progress paths, and to further track as many objects located in ahigher priority area as the number of the excluded objects.
 5. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to calculate aTime-To-Collision (TTC) for a first object and a second object, and isconfigured such that when the collision probability of the progress pathscenario applied to the first object is higher than the collisionprobability of the progress path scenario applied to the second object,the controller displays the calculated TTC for the first object orcontrols the subject vehicle according to the TTC calculated for thefirst object, and the progress path scenario applied to the first objectin the intersection area is a progress path scenario in which a progresspath intersects with a progress path of the subject vehicle, and theprogress path scenario applied to the second object is a progress pathscenario in which a progress path does not intersect the progress pathof the subject vehicle.
 6. A device for controlling a vehicle in anintersection area, the device comprising: a vehicle information sensingunit configured to sense vehicle information which is at least one of avehicle speed, a gear position, a yaw rate, a steering angle, and a turnsignal lamp; a subject vehicle path determination unit configured todetermine a path of a subject vehicle in the intersection area based onthe vehicle information; a target vehicle sensing unit configured tosense a target vehicle based on external information which is at leastone of: camera image information acquired from a camera configured tomonitor the front side; first radar information acquired from a frontradar configured to monitor the front side; and second radar informationacquired from a corner radar configured to monitor both sides; a targetvehicle path determination unit configured to determine the path of thetarget vehicle in the intersection area based on the externalinformation; a setter configured to set a region of interest of one ofthe camera image information, the first radar information, and thesecond radar information based on the path of the subject vehicle andthe path of the target vehicle in the intersection area; a calculatorconfigured to calculate a speed of a vehicle of interest that is atarget vehicle positioned in the region of interest based on theexternal information and to calculate a Time-To-Collision (TTC) with thevehicle of interest; and a controller configured to control anotification device or a control device based on the TTC with thevehicle of interest.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein when the path ofthe subject vehicle in the intersection area is one of straight forward,a left turn, and a right turn, the setter is configured to set theregion of interest depending on which one of straight forward, a leftturn, and a right turn, the path of the target vehicle in theintersection area corresponds to.
 8. The device of claim 6, wherein thetarget vehicle sensing unit is configured to track the object bysequentially using second radar information sensed by the corner radar,first radar information sensed by the front radar, and camera imageinformation sensed by the camera.
 9. The device of claim 6, wherein thecontroller configured to control the notification device to provide anotification when the TTC with the vehicle of interest is smaller than apreset first time and to control the control device to decelerate whenthe TTC with the vehicle of interest is less than a preset second time,and the first time is longer than the second time.
 10. The device ofclaim 6, wherein the setter is configured to two or more regions ofinterest, and when the calculates two or more TTCs, the controller isconfigured to control the notification device to provide a notificationwhen a minimum TTC among the two or more TTCs is smaller than a presetfirst time and to control the control device to decelerate when theminimum TTC is less than a preset second time, and the first time islonger than the second time.